Power, Software, FreedomWhy we need to divide and re-conquer our systems

Karsten Gerloff<gerloff@fsfeurope.org>

Free Software Foundation Europe

FOSDEM, Feb 5, 2011

Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is part ofthe global network of independent FSFs.

I awareness

I policy

I legal work

FSFE’s Fellowship http://fellowship.fsfe.orgas a network for activists.

Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is part ofthe global network of independent FSFs.

I awareness

I policy

I legal work

FSFE’s Fellowship http://fellowship.fsfe.orgas a network for activists.

Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is part ofthe global network of independent FSFs.

I awareness

I policy

I legal work

FSFE’s Fellowship http://fellowship.fsfe.orgas a network for activists.

“Starting this Thanksgiving I am going to write acomplete Unix-compatible software system called

GNU (for Gnu’s Not Unix), and give it away free toeveryone who can use it. Contributions of time,

money, programs and equipment are greatlyneeded.”

Richard Stallman, Sept 27, 1983

We’ve come pretty far.

I Free operating systems

I Free servers

I Free desktops

I Free Software everywhere

I Freedom everywhere?

We’ve come pretty far.

I Free operating systems

I Free servers

I Free desktops

I Free Software everywhere

I Freedom everywhere?

“It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s amarketing hype campaign.”

Richard Stallman, guardian.co.uk, Sept 29, 2008

“It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s amarketing hype campaign.”

Richard Stallman, guardian.co.uk, Sept 29, 2008

“The interesting thing about cloud computing isthat we’ve redefined cloud computing to include

everything that we already do. The computerindustry is the only industry that is more

fashion-driven than women’s fashion. Maybe I’m anidiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talkingabout. What is it? It’s complete gibberish. It’s

insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?”

Larry Ellison, Oracle, Sept 26, 2008

“The interesting thing about cloud computing isthat we’ve redefined cloud computing to include

everything that we already do. The computerindustry is the only industry that is more

fashion-driven than women’s fashion. Maybe I’m anidiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talkingabout. What is it? It’s complete gibberish. It’s

insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?”

Larry Ellison, Oracle, Sept 26, 2008

Control

What’s cool about cloud computing?

I OmnipresenceI get to your data from anywhereI on any deviceI use programs from anywhere

I easy to use

I no installationI no maintenance

But how free are you in the cloud?

I Can you use the software, for any

purpose?

I Can you study it, and adapt it to your

needs?

I Can you redistribute copies of the

software?

I Can you modify the software, and

distribute modified versions?

But how free are you in the cloud?

I Can you use the software, for any

purpose?

I Can you study it, and adapt it to your

needs?

I Can you redistribute copies of the

software?

I Can you modify the software, and

distribute modified versions?

But how free are you in the cloud?

I Can you use the software, for any

purpose?

I Can you study it, and adapt it to your

needs?

I Can you redistribute copies of the

software?

I Can you modify the software, and

distribute modified versions?

But how free are you in the cloud?

I Can you use the software, for any

purpose?

I Can you study it, and adapt it to your

needs?

I Can you redistribute copies of the

software?

I Can you modify the software, and

distribute modified versions?

Where’s your data?

Where’s your data going?

Power

Centralised networkPower over

I Program behaviour

I Terms of service

I Network beaviour

Decentralised networkPower in every single node, butno central controlling instance

I the web

I Email

I Jabber

I Status.net

Distributed networkEverybody is equal, no instancehas power over the others.

I BitTorrent

I GnuNET

Freedom

Systems that will respect our freedom:

I Decentralised or distributed design

I Use open standards and protocols tocommunicate between instances

I easy to create local instances

I software available under AGPLv3 or later

I let us export our data at any time in astandardised, documented format

Systems that will respect our freedom:

I Decentralised or distributed design

I Use open standards and protocols tocommunicate between instances

I easy to create local instances

I software available under AGPLv3 or later

I let us export our data at any time in astandardised, documented format

But what about the omnipresence?

But what about the omnipresence?

“We have to distinguish between visions andhallucinations.”

Vint CerfInternet Governance Forum, Vilnius, Lithuania

Sept. 16, 2010

Want to own your social network?

GNU Socialhttp://groups.fsf.org/wiki/Group:GNU_Social

DIASPORA*http://www.joindiaspora.com/

OneSocialWebhttp://onesocialweb.org/

Appleseedhttp://opensource.appleseedproject.org/

The Friend of a Friend (FOAF) projecthttp://www.foaf-project.org/

Peerscapehttp://www.peerscape.org/

and many more...

Collect them at https://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing

Protocols

I OStatushttp://status.net/wiki/OStatus

I The Friend of a Friend (FoaF) projecthttp://www.foaf-project.org/

I Webfingerhttps://code.google.com/p/webfinger/

I salmon-protocolhttp://salmon-protocol.org/

I Activity Streamshttp://activitystrea.ms/

I pubusbhubbubhttps://code.google.com/p/pubsubhubbub/

I Portable Contactshttp://portablecontacts.net/

I microformatshttp://microformats.org/

I Federated Social Webhttp://federatedsocialweb.net/wiki/Main_Page

Collect them at https://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing

Collaboration

I Crabgrasshttp://crabgrass.riseup.net/

I BuddyPresshttp://buddypress.org/

I Dreamwidthhttp://www.dreamwidth.org/

I AROUNDMehttp://www.barnraiser.org/aroundme

Micro-Blogging

I StatusNet (Identi.ca)http://status.net/

I OpenMicroBloggerhttp://openmicroblogger.org/

I Thimbl http://www.thimbl.net/

Instant Messaging

I XMPP (Jabber)http://xmpp.org/

Distributed file storage

I GNUnethttp://gnunet.org/

I BitTorrent (DHT)http://www.bittorrent.org/

I ANGEL APPLICATIONhttp://angelapp.missioneternity.org/

I OwnCloudhttp://owncloud.org/

I SparkleSharehttp://www.sparkleshare.org/

I TahoeLAFShttp://tahoe-lafs.org/trac/tahoe-lafs

I duplicityhttp://www.nongnu.org/duplicity/index.html

Collect them at https://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing

Hallucination?

or Vision?

Hallucination?

or Vision?

There’s more:

I user-owned ISPse.g. French Data Networkhttp://www.fdn.fr

I P2P currenciese.g. Bitcoin http://www.bitcoin.org

I Free Identityhttp://freedentity.org

Hallucination?

or Vision?

Hallucination?

or Vision?

Join one of these projects.

Figure out what’s missing, andbuild it.

Think for yourself.

Use technology. Don’t let it useyou.

Join one of these projects.

Figure out what’s missing, andbuild it.

Think for yourself.

Use technology. Don’t let it useyou.

Join one of these projects.

Figure out what’s missing, andbuild it.

Think for yourself.

Use technology. Don’t let it useyou.

Join one of these projects.

Figure out what’s missing, andbuild it.

Think for yourself.

Use technology. Don’t let it useyou.

Take the power back.

https://wiki.fsfe.org/CloudComputing

Karsten Gerloffgerloff@fsfeurope.org

March 30, 2010http://documentfreedom.org

@documentfreedom